Skipper Jim O’Brien fired the Sky Blues in front inside four minutes but two sloppy goals saw them trailing at the break and although substitute Sanmi Odelusi dragged them level they were sunk by Michael O’Connor’s sucker-punch free-kick.

Mowbray made just one change from the side that lost 1-0 at Barnsley in midweek , Frank Nouble replacing Sanmi Odelusi, and he enjoyed a perfect start a well-sustained City move saw Samuel tee up O’Brien for a low drive from the rugby 22m line which slipped inside Chris Neal’s right-hand post.

The Sky Blues were close to a second as Fleck’s superb through ball gave Samuel the space for a shot that was deflected into the side netting and the home side continued to look bright.

Vale suffered a blow on the half-hour as Ryan Innis was booked catching Tudgay with a head-high boot but injured himself in the process and was stretchered off after a lengthy spell of treatment. That removed one of the major threats from Vale’s dead-ball routines but in the final five minutes of the first half they suddenly conjured up two goals from open play.

The first was a scruffy affair as a right-wing cross bobbled through a crowded area and found Pope unmarked at the back post to prod the ball home from three yards.

And the second was a counter-attack from a City corner, Marshall exchanging passes before picking his spot past Burge who had again been left totally exposed.

Samuel sent an injury time effort dipping just over the bar as City tried to repair the damage and they created the first chance of the second half as Phillips cut inside to shoot wide from 20 yards.

Although Mowbray made a double shuffle for the final half-hour, Williams and Odelusi replacing Barton and Tudgay, it was Vale who carved out the next opportunity with Burge fielding Marshall’s shot from just inside the area.

But the Sky Blues were level in the 70th minute as Nouble bustled his way through the middle, fending off two Vale challengers, and rolled a perfect pass into Odelusi’s path for the substitute to lash home a ferocious shot.

Vale retaliated for O’Connor to curl a free-kick fractionally wide – and when O’Brien fouled Brown in virtually the same spot three minutes later, O’Connor adjusted his sights marginally and slid it just inside the post.

Williams lifted the ball well over Neal’s bar when he tried his dead-ball luck from 30 yards but although Simeon Jackson was also pitched into the attacking mix City couldn’t find their way through and they remain just a point outside the relegation zone.